What's For Dinner Wednesday

I planned ahead and prepared this post just like I planned dinner!  By the time you are reading this I will have had my protein shake and will be on the treadmill.  This working momma NEEDS a workout!

This week I made one of my favorites, but made it kid friendly:  Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter (I used light)
1 cup chopped onion
14oz chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup (I used light)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used light)
1 can Rotel drained (I used mild)
1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)
3 1/2 cups chopped chicken (I shredded one rotisserie chicken)
3 cups shredded monterrey jack cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 16oz box angel hair pasta (I brake the pasta in half before I cook it)

Directions
Cook pasta until al dente
Melt butter in a skillet and cook onions until they are tender
Dump broth, soup, sour cream, chicken, cheese and onions into a bowl, add onions
Drain pasta and add to bowl

Spread into a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

I serve this with raw broccoli and carrots because they are K and C's favorites and a salad for us.  Tonight Mr. G will be eating it with a salad, as I am looking forward to my protein shake and workout!  SERIOUSLY

SO that is what's for dinner.  I am thinking next week may just need to be dessert!

Monday, Is That You Already?

Seriously time SLOW DOWN.  Between work, sports schedules, house projects and workouts I am not really sure how it can already be Monday.

The littles are asleep, my tomorrow is organized and prepped, for now and I am back in my office working on the website and planning spring and summer.

If you are in the D.C. stay tuned for a clearance sale...as in $1, $5 and $10 items.  See my procrastination is your gain!

For now I am looking at pieces like this and wishing for white jeans, a crisp oxford, with a monogram of course, and a pair of flip flops.

Do you love this necklace as much as I do?

Until then it's hot tea, warm pajamas and socks and back to work!

What's For Dinner Wednesday

This week has been insane between client deadlines, D.C.'s total panic over snow and 3-4" that have left schools closed for days, but I was determined to post tonight.  I tucked the littles in bed, snuck out to the gym, don't worry Mr. G was home with them and now I am on the sofa, watching Nashville, typing this post on my iPad so forgive the lack of photos!

So this week's new recipe was Baked Potato Soup
I confess I was shocked at how easy this recipe was!

6 russet potatoes
3/4 bag southern style frozen hash browns
1/2 an onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk, I used skim
8oz shredded cheddar cheese, I used light
Old Bay Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Light Sour Cream

Directions
Bake the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for about an hour until they are soft.  Then peel and dice.
Place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, 2 teaspoons Old Bay and salt and pepper to taste in crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours.
Add shredded cheese, 2 cups milk, hash browns 1/2 cup light sour cream and cook another 1-2 hours on low
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with chopped green onions, cheese and bacon

Friday FIVE Part 2

I know it's Sunday, but this year I am determined to get back to blogging and get ALL of my new products on the website so better late than never!

Baby C, I really need to stop calling him that, is finally feeling better.  We are going to see a specialist on Thursday to try and figure out what caused it, but for now he is happily watching hockey and singing Jingle Bells....yes in January!

SO this week's list is a combination of 2 of my favorite things:  gifting and wrapping up home projects.

1.  Puppies!
We  got 2 new puppies and they are super talented!  They sit super still, can hold flowers and can also serve up a mean punch.  They are Staffordshire and I ADORE them.  I have been wanting a pair of Staffordshire pitchers for awhile and a dear friend spotted these for me at an antique store and a trip to the UPS store later they are in my dining room!

2.  Take A Seat
I loved the shape of this bench the moment I saw it, but wanted to do something else in terms of fabric. I LOVE how it turned out and now have a pretty and functional place to sit in my master bedroom!

3.  Let there be light!
Mr. G knows I love pineapples (hello, Pineapple Grove Gifts) and found this antique majolica pineapple lamp on his travels for me.  A monogrammed shade is coming but we picked it up from having it rewired and I just love it.  There is something about lamp light in hallways and rooms that make houses feel like home to me.

4.  Take Note
January to me is the month of planning and thanking.  I know that spring is around the corner, even if the corner is big one and spring in our house is a lot of parties and gifting.  Right now we will double your order of flat or folded notes for FREE-no code needed, just enter in the TOTAL quantity you want to receive. I am in LOVE with these baseball notes for boys.  I have them for C with a 3 since he isn't playing baseball yet, but love that you can put your child's number on the back of the card.  A client just ordered them with her son's team name on the front and 14 on the back for the year and they are going to use them to give out awards, etc during the season.

5.  Sunnies
Spring is coming, but Valentine's Day and spring break will be here before you know it.  Mini K loves sunglasses and we found out this year at her eye check-up that while she has perfect vision they suggested she wear sunglasses outside because she reads so much on her kindle and ipad.  I am a BIG fan of Bonlook for glasses.  Bonlook offers prescription and nonprescription glasses at amazing prices.  Since she is my little rockstar, I ordered her the Rockstar sunnies in turquoise as part of her Valentine's Day happies.  You can take $15 off your purchase with code:  imback15 and if that isn't enough shipping is FREE.

These are my favorites for the week and I cannot wait to see what this week has in store!

Friday FIVE Part 1

It has been a long week my friends!  Some highs, so lows and one sick little boy.  It started on Wednesday with a trip to the ER and we have been back at the doctors and the hospital each day since.  This winter has been ROUGH and you will NOT hear me complain come August and our 100 degree days...sunscreen and air conditioning beat sick little ones every day and twice on 3 day weekends!  I just realized that C has been wearing red shirts ALL week, but I promise he has actually changed clothes multiple times a day...don't ask!

So my Friday 5 tonight is Baby C's 5 little fingers wrapped around mine snuggled up on the sofa hoping the meds do the trick.  Did I mention Mini K is making us watch Cloud 9...I mean all the cool kids are watching it.

I did have someone email me after they saw my Instagram feed and ask if orders will still shipping on time and I am going to have a smug working mom moment and say orders are still shipping, for the most part, within 48 hours...sleep well I can catch up on that next week right?  Feel free to send wine, magazines and miracle cures until tomorrow ladies!

XOX

Up In The Air

I squeezed in a spring buying trip this past weekend and found some great stuff.  I returned to Baby C saying he didn't feel good and a client emergency for my day job that needed to be handled.  I won't even discuss the Little Mermaid play costume that Mini K informed me we are supposed to make.

I had plans for a blog post.  Did you read it?  Did it end up being as awesome as I thought it would be?  Oh wait, I never actually got around to writing it!

Today has been a blur of briefings, meetings and then the dreaded call:  you son needs to go to the ER and yep, that is where I went.

Baby C has a septic infection, Mr. G was of course out of town (forget Murphy's law, that's working mom law) so thankfully they let him come home after x-rays, fluids and meds.  Mr. G was able to get the last seat on what used to be a lovely US Air flight and has now become American Airlines but I won't get on my soapbox about that.

His hospital bracelet is still on because we have to go back for a check up tomorrow.  So while today is in fact What's for Dinner Wednesday, the menu was actually Gatorade by force for C and Golden Grahams with a side of scrambled eggs for Mini K.  I drank an imaginary glass of wine and then settled for a half caff coffee from the Keurig because I am still on the post oral surgery liquid/soft food diet.

I type this in case someone else is having a day or week like mom and out of gratitude that my week isn't worse.  It's life and I am determined this year to just embrace it and go with it.

So tonight's dinner will wait until tomorrow and I will post it---it is that good!

Until then, I will sit next to Baby C and hold his hand and he will join me in the luxury that is sitting in front of the tv.  Sometimes a working mom needs a sick little one to make her slow down.

Sweet dreams and Purell hands my friends!

Friday FIVE

I have 5 things I really want to post, but I also have the reality of a 6am flight to Market for our spring buy tomorrow morning and being less than 36 hours post gum graft.

I know if there anything more exciting.  So I am asking 5 of you to have a glass of wine for me tonight and I will post from the show!  Feel free to follow along on Instagram.  You can find me under Grove Gal K!

What's For Dinner Wednesday

Tonight was week 1 of one of my goals for 2014: try a new recipe.  A friend's husband posted a photo of some well cooked chicken on Facebook, I confess that is my fear with these weekly posts but comfort zones are so 2013!

So today I threw everything in the crockpot! turned it on to low and walked away for 7 hours and guess what?  Everyone loved it!  I confess I'm too nervous for tomorrow's dental surgery to eat anything but water but pleasing my 2 kiddos and the husband with one meal is kind of like winning the lottery.

I just realized I forgot to take a photo of the finished meal, so please forgive me.



Chicken & Dressing Casserole
Take 3-4 skinless boneless chicken breast and place in bottom of crockpot.
Cover with 1 cup of chicken broth.
Mix 1 can of Cream of Chicken and 1 can of Cream of Celery soups with 1/4 cup of milk in a separate bowl. NOTE: I just healthy request soups and skim milk.
Pour mixture over chicken
Cover with 2 1/2 cups of dressing mix.  I used Pepperidge Farm
Pour 1/2 stick of melted butter over dressing.
Cover and cook for 7 hours on low and serve.

This was a simple,easy weeknight dinner.

New Year, New Goals

I still cannot believe it is 2014!  2013 was an amazing year and it ended in a blur of activity.  The holiday season at the Grove was our busiest yet!  As soon as I shipped the last order I picked up Mini K's birthday cake and drove straight to her birthday party.  I may have also decorated the outside of our house in the dark, been caught wrapping presents by Mini K because I pulled an all nighter, but this past Christmas was so special.  Baby C finally got Santa and Mini K was a great big sister!  As you can tell from my lack of posts, the blog came in last and honestly, I have no regrets.  I am so thankful to have spent the time with family and friends and reflecting on 2013 as I planned for this year.

Christmas came, then Mr. G's birthday 2 days later followed by Mini K's 2 days after that.  She seemed a little tired, but had been staying up late so I didn't think much of it, well were we in for a shock at her 8 year old well check-up.  Mini K had pneumonia.  Forgive my tangent, but I determined to be more thankful for the little blessings that just appear.  I had been sent a Braun Therms VoxBox to try out the new forehead scanning thermometer.  K's doctor said we needed to monitor her temperature every hour for the first 3 days they sent us home because she can spike a high fever fast.  Did I mention that ALL she wanted to do was sleep?  Well enter my little angel aka my new thermometer!  All I had to do was swipe it across her forehead ---it didn't matter if she was awake or asleep and viola, I had her temp!  The best part is you can use this thermometer on an infant, a child or even an adult.  It is now one of my MUST HAVE products and something I will be giving to new moms!

I am spending this week updating the website and getting ready for our first buying trip of 2014!  We will be launching some new custom products this year as well as adding some non-personalized gifting options in the under $25 and under $50 categories.

New Year's Resolutions have never been a big thing for me, but I am big on goals for the year.  I tend to want to achieve goals and resolutions tend to be forgotten by February!  So here are my goals for 2014:

1.  Cook one new recipe a week. (Keeping it real grilled cheese with a new kind of cheese counts!).  I will be posting these recipes on the blog of Wednesdays this year, so please check out What's for Dinner Wednesday and let me know if you do a similar post as I would love to read.

2.  Write more letters just because!  I know the cost of stamps is increasing, but I LOVED getting everyone's holiday cards in my mailbox so I am going to try to keep it up in the new year by sending the kids godparents random photos and notes of the kids.  The best part, Mini K is joining me on this...she thinks it is fun and has no clue it will help her handwriting!

3.  Entertaining.  I have spent the last 3 years either planning for a renovation, construction, unpacking from construction or decorating.  The reality is, I will always have a house project, the next one, our butler's pantry, starts in 7 weeks but we built this house so we could have space to entertain and then I let life become an obstacle rather than an avenue to entertain.  So this is year we will open our house up to family, friends and neighbors.  Let the party planning begin.

4.  Girlfriends.  I haven't decided on a cooking club, a bookclub or a pinterest party, but 2014 will also be the year I make time ( and host) and once a month girls night!

5.  Be Accountable To My Health.  I have always worked out, but not really with a plan.  I made Crossfit a priority in December and have seen HUGE improvement in my strength so I am adding nutrition in January along with running.   Two feet in casts in one year made me scared of running.  The thought of not being able to drive for 6 more weeks is terrifying to a control freak like myself.  But I ran over the holidays and realized how much I missed it.

SO there they are...if you know me feel free to call me out on any of these goals.  One of my biggest jobs as a mother is to set an attitude of CAN DO for my kids instead of EXCUSES and kids learn from examples and actions not words.